fifield



I Nov. 8, 192 7. 1,648,300

A. F. FIFIELD RAIL ANCHOR Filed OGL 29. 1925 N VEWTO R d "E -w Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES ALBERT r. FIFIELD, or s'r. cnrnaarnns, ONTARIO; CANADA.

RAIL ANCHOR.

Application filed October 29, 1925. Serial No. 65,556.

My invention relates to rail anchors of the type having a clamping engagement with the base of railroad rails and which anchors cooperate with a transverse railroad tie or other relatively fixed abutment to check the longitudinal creeping of the rail.

An object. of my invention is to provide a rail anchor of unitary construction and which may be very easily applied to or removed from the base of a rail to be anchored thereby and which will efiectually prevent the creeping of the rail longitudinally by rigidly anchoring the rail to a railroad tie or other fixed abutment.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a rail anchor which may be forged in a single piece and which will possess great strength and will strongly resist longitudinal movements of the rail, although the total weight of the anchor may be considerably less thanthe weight of anchors now commonly in use.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will be apparent from the accon'lpanying description of an embodiment thereof and in which description reference will be had to the accompanying drawings illustrating one form of my invention.

In the drawings Fig. 1 shows a rail anchor in side elevational view applied to a railroad rail illustrated. in section, the anchor being placed on the rail at a point immediately ad acent a railroad tie shown in elevation liig. 2 is an endelevational view of thc anchor, rail and tie lllllStl'tllGtl in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the an chor and rail of the foregoing figures; and

Fig. 4t is a horizontal section of the anchor and rail taken on the line at-l of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the various figures of drawing, in all of which like parts are desig nated by like reference characters, at 1, I

show a railroad rail comprising a tread portion2 and web 3 and a base 4: the base t comprising the laterally extending 5 andv 6. I

At 7 I show a rail supporting tie to which the rail 1 is secured in any desired manner as by railroad spikes, not shown herein. Abutting the tie 7 I have illustrated a rail anchor shown per se in Fig. 3 which is made in a single unitary piece, preferably of forged high carbon steel and comprising jaw flanges I termediate connecting portion 10.

Figs. 2 and 8, the jaw portion 8 is preferably of considerable width relative to the width of the jaw 9 and relative to the width of the in- Joining the flange 11 and the jaw 8 for a greater portion of the width of the jaw 8 I provide a" reinforcing rib 12 adapted to prevent rela tive movement of the remote end of the jaw 8 to the bottom end of the flange 11. I make the rib 12 relatively thin compared to the weight of the flange 11 from which it ex-' tends.

The jaw portion 8 comprises an upper jaw 19 and a lower jaw 20, the contactinginner surfaces of the said jaw being inclined to one another, preferably slightly more than the relative inclination of the surfaces 17 and 18 of the rail flange 5 with which surfaces the inner surfaces of the jaws are adapted to make a tight fitting contact. I preferably vary the relative angularity of the difierent inner surface portions of the jaws 19 and 20, also, from the edge 21 to the edge 22 thereof; that is, these surfaces will be disposed relative to each other at a more acute angle in portions more nearly adjacent the edge 22 than the edge 21.

I preferably dispose the surfaces adjacent the edge 21 so that, for instance, they make relatively loose fitting contact with the surfaces 17 and 18 of the rail flange 5 and then progressively make the angularity in portions progressively nearer the edge 22 of the jaws more acute, so that the jaws in portions relatively nearer the edge 22 will resist being driven on to the edge of the rail flange 5 more than. will portions progressivelynearer the jaw edge 21.

In driving the rail anchor to take the position as illustrated in Fig. 1, this difference in angularity will result in the anchor thrusting the tongue or intermediate portion 10 slightly diagonal to a direction at right,

angles to the longitudinal axis of the rail, so that the tongue 10 will extend in a somewhat diagonal direction transversely of the rail and as indicated in Fig. i. This is perhaps best illustrated in Fig. 3, where the line 2323 represents the longitudinal medial line of the rail anchor and the line ill! 24 24 is one drawn at right angles to the plane of the longitudinal axis of the rail. It will be seen that the line 223 223 extends at a slight angle to the line 24E2 i, which results from the fact that the jaws 19 and 20 have their rail flange gripping portions disposed at a more acute angle towards their edge 22 than towards the edge 21 of the aws.

'lhis brings the inner edge portion of the jaw 9 at the side 21 very tightly in contact with the rail flange 6, and more tightly than will the edge portion of the jaw 9 at the side 22 thereof, also this condition will be accentuated whenever the rail 2 tends tomove in such a direction to thrust the flange 11 against the tie 7, since the angularity between the lines 2; and illwill be increased, as illustrated in Fig.2 3 and i.

The precise angularity to be employed in the different portions of the jaws 19 and 20 and the length and form of the tongue 10 may readily be predetermined for ach size of rail so as to accommodate rail sizes varying but slightly therefrom, in accordance with common practice in the making of rails of a given standard size having rail base flanges with which surfaces the inner faces of. the jaws 19 and 20 are adapted to make a close fitting contact, preferably substantially throughout their length. The aw 9, on the other hand, is very slightly inturned extending generally upwardly from the end of the anchor intermediate portion 10 which, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is bowed somewhat downwardly from the lower face 16 of the rail base.

l i hen the rail anchor is unattached and in its normal unstressed form, the curvature thereof is sharper; that is, bowed to greater degree than will be the case where the anchor, as illustrated in 1, is finally attached to the rail base. The portion 10 is very highly resilient because of its composition, which is preferably that of spring steel, and l have found that ?;4; high carhon steel is very suitable for the purpose,

In attaching the rail anchor of my invention to the base of a rail, the anchor ad vanced below the rail base from that side of the rail to which the jaw member 8 is to be attached and the hooked jaw member 8 is placed over the edge of the flange 5 of the rail and the jaw 9 advanced to a point below the edge portion of the flange A sharp strong bl ow is imparted to the anchor at the point 15 to drive the anchor home to its secured position, and this blow will cause the jaw member 8 to take the position illustrated wherein it embraces snugly the angc 5, and the intermediate anchor portion 10 will be straightened out somewhat and the end of the jaw 9 caused to ride forwardly along the bottom of the rail flange 6 until it overrides the lateral edge of the rail flange 6 whereupon the stressed intermediate portion 10 will have a portion of its stress relieved because of the jaw 9 snapping upwardly about the lateral. edge of the flange 6 to the position illustrated in Fig. l.

I find that a rail. anchor made substantially entirely of high carbon spring steel or equivalent material for the purpose is capable, when made into the preferable form shown, of being driven home to secured position. upon the rail by the ordinary tools commonly used by railr ad section-hands, and that in the uring of such an anchor in position by driving, not only the intermediate portion l0 yields to position the anchor, but also the upper element 19 of the jaw 8 yields to a lesser degree and is strained from its norn'ial form suiiicicntly to permit it to acconnnodzuio the edge portions of the flange 5. The jaws 19-2O therefore are sprung to a more open position when atached to the rail than when unattached, and ie normal relative angular position of the anges l9 and 20 comprising the jaw 8 is 1 ierefore made at a slightly different angle to make the jaw more closed when unatached than when attached.

It will be noted that the rib 12 is preferably, as illustrated, tapered from its point of junction to the flange 11 to its more remote point of attachment with the remote end of the jaw 8 and that the intermediate anchor portion 10 is gradually reduced in weight from its point of junction with the jaw 20 to its opposite end carrying the jaw 9. This construction is etlicacious in reducing the weight of the anchor and at the same time insures that itbe strong wherever strains are to be resistd, rigid in portions th at should resist distortion and suiiiciently yieldahle in portions wherein stresses are to result in deformation and elastic resistance to deformation. I find that my improved anchor made in a unitary high carhon steel forging will pos. ess to a greater degree the properties of str a th and resistance to creeping of the rail than other anchors now in use, with which am familianand which weigh a eat 1 more. i he anchor of my invention is made m a n'ia'ierial of'relzrtively low cost compared with the cost of the material per unit weight nowcommonly en'iployed in such other anchors of greater w ight.

For the above reasons I find that my anchor may be manufactured at a considerably lower cost than other anchors now commonly in use and is more eiiicient in use than many of such anchors.

Having now described. my invention in a preferred form, I am aware that numerous and e -ttensive departures may be made from the anchor herein illustrated and described, but without departing from the spirit of my invention.

1 claim n at 1. In a rail anchor, a rail base flange embracing pair of jaws, a third jaw, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending below, the rail and transversely thereof uniting the jaws, atie engaging flange depending from the first named jaws along a side por tion thereof, a stiffening rib depending from the first named jaws and uniting portions thereof disposed remote from the flange to the lower portions of the depending flange, said strip, flangev and stiffening rib being formed in a unitary piece of spring steel, said first named jaws comprising an upper element adapted to overlie and make contactwith the upper surface of the rail flange and a lower element making contact with the lower surface of the said flange, said third jaw adapted when said first jaws are driven tightly upon the rail flange to grip the same to be flexed and override the bottoin edge surface of the other rail base flange bracing pair of jaws, a third jaw, a down,

wardly bowed resilient strip "uniting the jaws, a depending tie engaging flange depending from a side of the strip adjacent the first named jaws, a stiffening rib uniting portions of the first named jaws remote from the depending flange to the lower portions of said flange, the connecting strip,flange, and rib being formed in a unitary piece of spring metal, said first named jaws comprising an upper jaw element adapted to overlie and make contact with the upper surface of the rail flange, and a lower jaw element mak ing contact with the lower surface of the said flange, said third jaw adapted when said first jaws are driven tightly upon said rail flange to grip the same to be projected upwardly so as to engage the side edge surface of the other rail base flange to cooperate with said first jaws to make clamping engagement with the rail base, said anchor being held onto the railbase flanges by the resilient power of the distorted resilient portions of the anchor comprising the downwardly bowed strip, and the said upper jaw element. I V

3. In a rail anchor, a rail base flange embracing jaw member, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending from the said jaw transversely of the rail below the same, a third jaw projecting upwardly from the free end of the said strip, a tie engaging flange depending from a side of the anchor and secured thereto adjacent said first named jaw member, a stiffening rib-uniting the first named jaw member to the flange,

mg a resilient jaw adapted to overlie and make contact with the upper surface of the rail flange, and a jaw making contact with the lower surface of the said flange, said third jaw adapted when said first jaw member is driven tightly upon the rail flange to 'gripthe same to override the bottom edge surface of the other rail base flange at the opposite side of the rail, and to be projected upwardly so as to override the side edge surface of such flange to make clamping engagement therewith, said anchor being held onto the rail base flanges by the resilient power of resilient portions of the anchor dissorted during drivingv of the anchor upon the rail, in attempting to retain their normal unstressed form.

s. In a railanchor, a rail baseflange embracing pair of jaws, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending from the pair of jaws below the rail base and transversely thereof, said strip terminating in an up wardly hooked end, said pair of jaws comprising a resilient upper jaw, said pair of jaws and strip being formed in a single in tegral piece, including a rail-tie engaging portion, said rail-tie engaging portion depending from a side of the anchor near an end thereof, and a stiffening rib for the rail-tie engaging portion.

5. In a rail anchor, a rail base flange embracing pair of jaws, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending from the pair of jaws below the rail base and transversely thereof, said strip terminating in an upward ly hooked end, said pair of jaws comprising a resilient upper jaw, said pair of jaws and strip being formed in a single integral piece, including a rail-tie engaging portion, said pair of jaws having rail base flange contact-- mg inner surface portions, the jaws being more nearly closed at one side of the than at the opposite side.

6. In a rail anchor, a rail base flange embracing pair of jaws, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending from the pair of jaws below the rail base and transversely thereof, said strip terminating in an upwardly hooked end, said pair of'jaws including a resilient upper jaw, said pair of jaws and strip being formed in a single integral piece, including a'rail-tie engaging portion, said pair of jaws being more nearly closed in portions more nearly adjacent the rail-tie engaging portion.

7. In a rail anchor, a rail base flange embracing pair of jaws, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending from the pair of jaws below'the rail base and transversely thereof, said strip terminating in an upward- Ill) ly hooked end, said-pair-of including a resilient upper jaw, said pair of jaws and strip being torn'redin a single integral piece, including a rail-tie engaging portion, said pair of aws being more nearly closed in'p'ortions more nearly adjacent the rail-tie engaging portion, and the pair of jaws being progressively more and more opened in portionsoit the aws progr ssively more remote therefrom.

8. In a rail anchor, a rail base flange e1nbracing pair of jaws, a downwardly bowed resilient strip extending from the pair of jaws below the rail-base and transversely thereot, said strip terminating in an upwardly hooked end, said pair 0t jaws including a resilient upper jaw, said pair of jaws and strip being formed in a single integral piece, including a rail-tie engaging portion, said jaws having their inner rail flange engaging surfaces disposed at an-acute angle in sections taken in planes transversely of the rail, the singularity in sections taken progressively more and DIOIB'CllStZLHlZ from the jaws below the rail base and transversely thereof, said strip terminating in an upwardly hooked end, said pair of aws including a resilient upper jaw, .said'pair o1 jaws and strip being formed in a single integral piece, including a rail-tie engaging portion,

said pair oi jaws being more nearly closed in portions more nearly adjacent the railtie engaging portion, and the pair of jaws being progressively more and lilOl'G-OPQDCCL in portions of the jaws progressively more remote therefrom, and the upwardly hooked end of said strip having a rail flange en gaging portion disposed substantially parallel to the junction between the said pair of jaws.

In testimony whereor I hereunto aflix'iny signature this 26th day of ()ctober, 1925.

ALBERT F. FIFIELD. 

